Fred J. Barnes

Frederick Johnson Barnes[1] (8 January 1873 – 30 December 1917) was an English songwriter, who co-wrote numerous songs with R. P. Weston and Fred Godfrey.

He was born in Southwark, London. Between about 1906 and 1915, he worked with co-writer R. P. Weston, mainly on songs for the popular music hall performer Billy Williams. Barnes and Weston co-wrote "Little Willie's Woodbines" (1908); "I've Got Rings On My Fingers" (1909); "When Father Papered the Parlour" (1910);[2][3] and "Hush Here Comes the Dream Man", recorded in 1911 by Florrie Forde,[4] parodied by First World War soldiers as "Hush Here Comes a Whizzbang", and sung in the Theatre Workshop production of Oh, What a Lovely War! in 1963. Barnes also worked with Fred Godfrey on songs such as "Jim’s A Funny Fellow When He’s Had A Few" (c.1911)[4]

Barnes signed up for military service in the First World War, and joined the Essex Regiment. He died on 30 December 1917, from drowning after the torpedo attack on the troop carrier HMT Aragon, off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt.[5] He is buried at the Alexandria War Memorial Cemetery.[6][7]

He is sometimes confused with the singer Fred Barnes (born Frederick Jester Barnes, 1885–1938), who sang "You Can't Fool Around With The Women", composed by Fred Godfrey and Bennett Scott.[4]